An extra week off from games last week has given the Brush boys and girls basketball teams more time in practice to get ready for Patriot League play this week. Both teams open against the Liberty Common Eagles, with the girls hosting at Brush High School and the boys traveling to Fort Collins.

Before leaving for break, the teams were off to a nice start to the season. The boys team started off 6-0 and were getting some votes in the CHSAA 3A polls while the girls team was 5-1 and also garnering some attention. However, when they came home to face rival Fort Morgan before winter break, they both stumbled and loss by double digits.

Some similarities happened in both games that proved costly for Brush. They will try to correct their mistakes in time to start Patriot League play on the right foot.

One theme with both Brush teams is that they do not have as much size down low. Through the first six games of the season, their size was not a major factor.

Things changed drastically against Fort Morgan on Dec. 16.

Fort Morgan controlled the paint with their top post players, who went off to be the leading scorers in the win. Haley Lewis finished with 22 points and Trey McBride had 12, with most of his scoring coming in the paint. The Brush boys were outrebounded by 10 and the girls lost the battle on the boards by six rebounds.

Getting back to limiting the damage in the post from opposing teams will be a big factor as the season goes on, most notably with teams that have some size in their lineup.

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Turnovers

Because the Brush teams do not have a ton of size, they rely on playing a fast game. One of the ways to determine if the Beetdiggers is playing the game at their pace is based on how many turnovers they force and how many they commit.

Against Fort Morgan, the Beetdiggers also lost the turnover battle, another big difference in the game.

The Brush girls committed 18 turnovers on offense but only managed to force 13 on defense. In previous games, the team had forced well over 20 turnovers per game in their wins. And while the boys team did force 17 turnovers against the Mustangs, they had 22 on offense.

Playing fast is critical for Brush, but the team will also need to play in control and limit their mistakes on offense as well.

Playing a full 32 minutes

This was important for the Brush girls this season. In the 2016-17 season, the team struggled in one quarter of the game, sometimes making the difference in determining the outcome of the game.

So far this season, that has not been the case, until the Beetdiggers were outscored 20-11 in the third quarter and 18-12 in the fourth to lose their halftime lead.

In the boys game, Brush struggled to get started with the Mustangs and fell behind by double digits early. Fort Morgan won the first quarter 13-4 and the second quarter 13-8. For good measure, they also won the third quarter 16-5, giving them a 25-point lead going into the fourth.

Consistency has not been an issue until the Fort Morgan game and both teams will try to get back to playing for the full 32 minutes on Tuesday.

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